I read The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips several years ago. And like most of Michael Morpurgo's books, it's a classic. In the cruellest, most inhuman of times, we find stories of courage and love - Morpurgo never fails to remind us of that.Through a series of diary entries, we learn about 11-year-old Lily, who lives in Slapton in 1943. The war seems very far away, even though several "townies" now study in the same school as Lily. Life goes on as usual--until the people of Slapton are told they must evacuate in seven weeks. Lily's grandfather refuses to move, but the time comes when he accepts that he will help the war effort by moving, so he does. The problem is that Lily's precious cat, Tips, goes missing, and everyone begins to hunt for her, including the Yankee soldiers who are now in Slapton.As the hunt for Tips goes on, relationships are formed, and these relationships drive the … [Read more...]
January Reads
In December, I visited a books by weight sale, and I couldn't resist picking up seven books that were in near-mint condition! I couldn't finish one, but I read the other six, some of which I quite enjoyed, and others that I loved. Here they are, listed in an unusual way for me - from the one I enjoyed least to the one I enjoyed most. 3.5/5 Fan Fiction, Feminist, Ages 10+I enjoy reading spin-offs of classics. Off the top of my head, the ones that come to mind are Wide Sargasso Sea, Wishing for Tomorrow and Lilliput, though I'm sure there are many more that I've read and loved.Hook's Daughter was the first Peter Pan spin-off I've read! After I finished reading it, I learned that it is the first of a series of revenge stories by Heidi Schulz, but it works well as a standalone story too. Captain Hook doesn't … [Read more...]
The Butterfly Lion
I love Michael Morpurgo. And The Butterfly Lion? I've had it on my shelf for ever so long, hoping to share it with more readers someday. That day is nearly here!The Butterfly Lion is a classic. In Michael Morpurgo's signature style, he tells a heartfelt, almost mystical story in the simplest and most magical of ways. It's the story of love and kindness, friendship and loyalty.Bertie is heartbroken when his beloved white lion is sent away to the circus. He knows there is no choice, but that does not make it better. He promises the lion that he will find him, somehow, someday. But Bertie's story is a story within a story, told to a runaway boy Michael by an old lady who isn't everything she seems to be. As we learn about the butterfly lion, we explore the joy of memory and the ways in which we remember the ones we love.Like so many other older books, there are so many resources available … [Read more...]
Top Nine Middle Grade Books I Read in 2020
I love middle grade reads, so this is my longest list this year. In no particular order, here are the books to which I gave a five-star rating in 2020.This is a book for keeps.More often than not, in India, books that address homosexuality are categorised as young adult or adult books, but with this book more than any others before, I disagree. To Night Owl from Dogfish is clearly a middle grade book. The characters, the themes, the tone - everything, for me, is middle grade. Avery and Bett learn that their dads are going to get married, and they start exchanging emails, laying plans to ensure that they don't get to know each other. They don't want two families to become one, thank you very much. They don't want to become sisters.Their fathers want to send them to summer camp together. They want to refuse to go and when that fails, they determine not to talk to each other. … [Read more...]
Listen to the Moon
I keep saying that with Michael Morpurgo, you can't go wrong. Once more, with Listen to the Moon, I realised the truth of that. Had it been almost any other writer, I would have been daunted by the thickness of the book and the idea of beginning to read it when I know I'm busy. But Michael Morpurgo? Any day.Another World War I novel, Listen to the Moon is set on the Isles of Scilly. We move from one time frame to another, and the two are just a few months apart. Merry MacIntyre tells part of the story. He father, a Canadian, is wounded in the war, and Merry and her mother are determined to travel across the Atlantic to be with him.Through a third person narrator, though, we also discover Lucy Lost, a young girl who seems traumatised into silence, wet and shivering by herself on St. Helen's Island. Who is Lucy Lost and why won't she speak? With anti-German sentiment on the rise, … [Read more...]
Private Peaceful
Charlie ... Charlie ... Charlie ...I want to meet you, get to know you, look up and admire you.I wanted to sob my heart out when I finished reading Private Peaceful.I wish I hadn't read it. It was so painful, so filled with a sense of injustice, so cruel.I feel privileged to have read it. It was so moving, so human, so gentle and so filled with love.My heart reached out to Tommo - who could have lived in Charlie's shadow, but never did. Instead, he basked in Charlie's glow. Tommo, little Tommo, is so human. He tells his story without reserve, without embarrassment. He gets angry with someone he worships. He adores without restraint. He knows that Charlie is everyone's hero. He is, and always will be, the other Private Peaceful. And he basks in his elder brother Charlie Peaceful's glowIt will take courage to read the book again. But I know I will. A powerful book like Private … [Read more...]
War Horse
There's something about Michael Morpurgo that haunts me. I remember being blown away by Kensuke's Kingdom. I've read and reread so many of his books. Running Wild, The White Horse of Zennor, Adolphus Tips, and of course War Horse. They come to mind immediately.This was not the first time I read War Horse.I was not in a mood to read anything soppy. In fact, I began reading War Horse when I was in a rather cynical mood. I'm not quite sure why.Despite that, towards the end of the book I found myself smiling because I did not want to cry. I closed the book, closed my eyes and sighed that particular sigh that only a beautiful book can pull out from the depths of your being.I can't imagine how the movie would be. How can a movie capture the mind of a horse?I don't think I will ever watch the movie. I've already decided that the book is better. … [Read more...]
Running Wild
I don't usually like thick hardbound books. They are daunting and, usually, boring. As soon as I make that statement, though, I realise how many exceptions there are.Running Wild is one of them. It has pages and pages of description, but not once was I bored.Morpurgo, at the end of the book, talks of his motivation for this novel. He talks about The Jungle Book, about his fascination for elephants, about the Iraq war, the Indonesian tsunami and the impending extinction of orangutans. Running Wild brings together all these. After a long time, I felt rage, a lump in my throat, relief, joy and excitement in the course of a single story. I was excited about, filled with grief for, repelled by and at peace with the story of a young boy in a jungle in Indonesia. Oona the elephant won my heart over and over again making me wonder if it's possible to look at an … [Read more...]